Swan Song
by ScarletPoison1987
Summary: The human Doctor had intentions for their first big trip in the new TARDIS. 'Had' being the operative word. But one more assignment from Torchwood throws both the Doctor and Rose into a mystery hot off the London streets. And Rose isn't too happy about the Doctor going undercover to solve it. Third story to my collection. Copyright to the BBC.
1. Chapter 1

The chilly autumn weather did not dampen the spirits of the children on a certain playground in Pete's World London. Quite the contrary, they seemed invigorated by it; refreshed, even. Copper leaves waltzed down from the skeletal tree branches as the little boys with pink cheeks climbed ladders and played cops and robbers. Young girls bundled into scarves and soft gloves sat on the swing set, watching the boys and giggling. It was the most beautiful fall day – warm in the sunlight and as crisp as an apple. So why did the mothers sitting on the benches feel a sense of dread as they watched their children scamper about on that sunny afternoon? Why did they all get an overwhelming desire to snatch up their little ones, run home, and lock the doors?

It's unexplainable – that sixth sense that parents have to keep their children from danger. Sometimes, you just _know_. But they all thought it was ridiculous and shrugged it off, even if some did invent an excuse to take their children home.

"Oh, look at the time! Gotta get dinner on."

"Briar has a piano lesson soon. He should really warm his fingers up before that."

"It's probably too cold for Charlotte to be out. And I did promise her some hot chocolate before we go home."

"Traffic is going to be horrid if we don't leave now."

The mothers that did stay pulled their coats tighter around themselves and watched their children continue playing with uneasy apprehension. If only they had been a bit closer to hear the rhyme that a group of children were singing in the corner of the playground as they jumped rope. Well, if they had, they would have left then and there.

As it was, they couldn't hear. They only saw three little boys with stocking caps singing and chasing each other as four little girls skipped rope in their patent leather mary janes. They looked so happy that each mother wondered what they were singing about.

_I'm looking for a man, who can change his face,_

_And his big, blue box that travels time and space._

_Roses will wither and the bells will chime._

_Run, run, you're running out of time._

_The second one left and the third forgot._

_Run, run, you're gonna get caught._

_Lord of time, he's dashing and brave._

_Run, run, the world is yours to save._

_Venus, Aphrodite, so many names._

_Run, run, you'd better play her games._

_She will make all your dreams come true._

_Run, run, she's set her sights on you._

_Blood soaked pearls tangled in lace._

_Run, run, Doctor - save the human race._

_Nightmare wrapped in silk, she's awake._

_Run, run, your heart is her's to take._

_Candlelight kisses, in love you fall._

_Run, run, you're backed into a wall._

_Ignoring us would be a mistake._

_How many people can she take?... 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8...  
_


	2. Chapter 2

But across the city, the man that was the subject of the grim rhyme was too busy to notice anything. Well, anything other than a certain pink and yellow human whom he was currently completely enamored with, that is.

Because the Doctor was too busy kissing Rose Tyler.

He had only recently spent seven months away from her; and if it taught him anything, it was that they only had a limited amount of time and he was not going to waste a second of it any longer. So he stole as many kisses as he could. It had become a game with him, actually. The how-many-times-a-day-can-he-kiss-Rose-Tyler game. He'd kiss her in the hallway each morning as they left their bedrooms to nip downstairs for breakfast before work. He'd kiss her as many times as he could at Torchwood; even going as far as to hide in a storage closet so that he could pop out when she walked down the hallway and pull her inside with him. He'd kiss her in the evenings if they were ever alone in the sitting room watching the telly, despite her teasing him that he was making her miss her favorite program. He'd kiss her before they both retired to their bedrooms at night. He'd kiss her in the café on the corner as they both let their coffees get cold and forgotten. He'd kiss her when they went for walks on Saturday afternoons; once in front of a couple of reporters snapping photos, not giving a damn if it ended up in the gossip column.

Rose only figured out it was a game last week when he kept popping up in the new TARDIS while she was shopping with her mother. He would wait until Jackie Tyler was in the dressing room, then he would sneak into the shop and kiss Rose while her mother was otherwise occupied.

"What are ya doin'?" Rose asked, laughing, after the third time he had appeared.

"Only testing the TARDIS," he had told her. "See you in five minutes. Well, I say five minutes… more like thirty for you and five for me."

"And how many more times are ya gonna do this?" she had asked him.

"Oh… about four, five more times, at least. Gotta break my record," he said, sprinting out of the boutique door.

And, of course, he'd kiss her in the TARDIS. It was quite distracting, honestly. He was supposed to be getting the TARDIS up and running properly, but every time she came in to check on him they ended up kissing - his mess of cables, machinery, and spare parts becoming neglected for a time. They were in that blissfully happy, snog all the time, make everyone else around them sick period and neither one of them cared in the slightest.

Now, as he walked into her tiny office at Torchwood and realized that they were actually alone, he planned on stealing at least one kiss under the guise of dropping off some paperwork. She had her back to him as she was reading something over her desk and hadn't heard him come in, so he shut the door quietly and snuck up behind her. Rose jumped a bit when he slid his arms around her waist, but then laughed it off.

"Shouldn't you be workin', Doctor Smith?" she asked as she spun around to face him.

The Doctor scrunched up his face, wrinkling his nose in disapproval. It annoyed him when she called him that and she knew it. "Brought you some stuff to sign off on from upstairs," he said, holding up a folder to her face before lowering it and pulling her back over to him. He kissed her before she could respond, feeling her start to giggle against his lips.

"So what is it?" Rose asked.

"Hmm?"

"The stuff I need to sign off on…" she prodded.

"Oh," he said, still hovering millimeters away from her mouth. "Dunno. Didn't ask. Don't care." He tossed the folder on her desk and resumed kissing her.

Rose pushed him away gently, still laughing. "I gotta at least finish my last day," she said, turning away from him and picking up the folder.

The Doctor sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "Alright, but I was going to take you for lunch."

"Where'd ya wanna go?" she asked as she flipped through pages.

"I was thinking Chinese. Ming Dynasty, maybe?" he asked, giving her a cheeky grin.

"How about somewhere closer so we can be back in half an hour?" Rose shook her head at him.

"Oi, it's a time machine, isn't it? I can get us back in fifteen minutes."

"Fifteen minutes… or fifteen days? 'Cos the last time you said twelve hours…"

"Are you ever going to forget that?" he asked exasperatedly.

Rose looked up at the ceiling thoughtfully and then back to him. "No, no…don't see that happenin'."

Just then, the door to Rose's office opened and her dad stuck his head in. "You two, my office. Now."

The Doctor and Rose exchanged confused looks and reluctantly followed Pete Tyler down the hall.

Pete didn't say anything until they were behind closed doors. After locking said door, Pete then sat at his desk and motioned for the Doctor and Rose to do the same.

"Since I already know that I can't change your minds about leaving, I figured that I am entitled to give a fatherly speech about being careful and remembering to check in," he said, dragging a hand down his freshly shaven face.

"Dad, we'll be home every Sunday. I promise." Then Rose glanced over at the Doctor and thought better about it. "And if, for some reason, we can't make it every Sunday then I'll ring you, yeah?"

Pete sighed at the stack of paperwork that towered on the corner of his desk. "It's gonna be hard, not having you both around. I gotta do this all by myself now."

"You have Richard and Jake," Rose offered helpfully.

"Ah, Pete, you know I'll still come if there's trouble," the Doctor said. "And I mean every word of that. If something comes up and you don't think you can handle it, we'll be here quick as a wink."

Pete just sniffed. "Right. Well, best let you both get on, then. Jake's been houndin' me for your office ever since you put in your resignation."

"Yeah, better keep packin'," Rose said, standing up. "You comin', Doctor?"

"Uh, yeah. Just a tick," he said. "Gonna talk to Pete here for a minute."

"Do you want me to wait?" Rose asked, pausing in the doorway.

"Nope. Off ya go," the Doctor said, getting up and gently pushing her out the door. Then he turned the lock and spun to face Pete. The Doctor pulled a chair up to the desk and sat on it backwards, resting his forearms on the back. "I have something important to talk to you about."

Pete leaned forward. "What is it, Doctor? Everything alright?"

"Yep. Fine, it's all fine. Well, I'm not fine. I'm a nervous wreck. I can't eat. Can't sleep…" The Doctor rubbed his chin absentmindedly.

"Is there something wrong with the TARDIS? Is it safe for you both to leave?"

"Huh? Oh, no. All that's… nothing's wrong with the TARDIS."

"Something's wrong with you, then?" Pete asked, looking concerned.

"No. Well, yes – sort of," he said as he stood up from his chair and started pacing.

"Go on. You'll feel better if you get it off your chest," Pete assured him.

The Doctor stopped pacing and put his hand in his jacket. "More like out of my pocket, but that's pretty appropriate as well," he said, setting a tiny, blue box on Pete's desk and meeting his eyes with a seriousness that conveyed what he couldn't stammer out.

"Is that a ring box?" Pete asked.

Shoving his hands in his trouser pockets and taking a wide legged stance, the Doctor's face spread into an impish grin. "Yep."


	3. Chapter 3

Pete stood and walked to a cabinet in the corner of the room. The Doctor watched as he pulled out a glass decanter of scotch and two glasses.

"Drink to celebrate?" Pete looked at him questioningly.

"Ah, no ta," the Doctor said. "Don't drink. Sorry."

"Ever?"

"My physiology is different now, Pete. I, uh, don't like not being in control. Senses dulled and all that…"

"Well, I'm having one," Pete said, pouring a glass and taking a swig. He gestured to the ring box sitting on his desk with his hand that held the glass of scotch. "So I assume you want my permission, then?"

The Doctor shrugged and raised his eyebrow. "That's the tradition here, isn't it?"

"Little outdated," Pete commented.

"Well… still…" The Doctor rubbed the back of his neck. "Whaddya think?"

"I just didn't know if you two would ever do something that…" Pete trailed off.

"Domestic?" the Doctor suggested.

"Normal," said Pete. "Jacks has been telling me that it was coming, but I… You two are just so strange."

The Doctor made an exaggerated frown. "Eh, heard worse. You know, we were once banished by Queen Victoria for just that reason. She wasn't a very grateful monarch, come to think of it. Mind you, we did..."

Pete cleared his throat. "So you think you're ready?" he asked.

"Ready for what?"

Sighing, Pete elaborated, "Marriage, Doctor, to my daughter."

"Sure," the Doctor said, running a hand through his hair uncomfortably.

"It's a pretty big step."

"Is it?" he asked. "See, and therein lies the problem, Pete. I don't need this." The Doctor gestured to the ring box. "As far as I'm concerned, I'm her Doctor and she's my Rose. We're…together. I don't need her to wear a ring and declare her love for me in front of everyone she's ever met. But I get it. I understand why the whole wedding thing is done. You humans want these little celebrations to mark milestones in your lives. Your lot loves these things. The fancy clothes, the dancing, the cake… Although, I've never understood why you all shove cake in your new spouse's face in front of everyone…bit strange, don't ya think?" Pete just sighed, so the Doctor continued. "Anyway, it's all months of stress over flowers, food, invitations, seating charts – can you believe that? I've been watching some shows on the telly about this and one woman threw a vase at her husband-to-be over the silly seating chart. Blimey, it was terrifying." Pete chuckled and took another sip of his scotch. "But the point is, it's brilliant – this need you all have to throw a little party to say to the whole world, 'We've done it! We've found each other! Out of every single person living on this big planet, we've chosen each other. For better or worse, we're in love.' It's sentimental, illogical, idealistic, impassioned for you lot to shout out to the entire pragmatic universe in an ardent fever that you are enraptured with one, single person! And you know what?" The Doctor picked up the ring box and held it in his hand. "It's beautiful, and poignant, and so very human."

"Well," Pete said, nodding at the Doctor, "you're human now."

"Yes, but I haven't the slightest clue how to handle all this," the Doctor admitted. "Like I said, Pete, I don't need to do this to have some security or seal to our relationship. But what if Rose does? What if this is what she's expecting? What if I wait too long and let her down?" He let out a groan and looked up to the ceiling, sucking a breath in through his teeth. "And, on the other hand, what if it's too soon? What if she's not ready? I know her, Pete. She's not going to say 'no' – not to me. The last thing she'd want to do is reject me. I've already made up my mind that she's all I want for the rest of my life – came to that realization a long time ago. But how do I know what she wants?" The Doctor pinched the bridge of his nose between his thumb and forefinger. "Give me a Dalek war ship and I'll unflinchingly run right in…but this?" He sighed and shook his head. "I don't know how to…date. Over nine hundred years of knowledge in this blasted head of mine and I am utterly confounded in this area!"

"Are you asking my advice?" asked Pete.

The Doctor looked at him, his eyes almost pleading. "If you have any to give…"

Pete scoffed good-naturedly. "Rose is… different, that's for sure. You're better off asking me to read tarot cards than figure out what's going on in that head of hers. But I do know one person who might be able to help you… And, if I'm perfectly honest, the person who's permission you will need if you are planning to propose."

After a hard swallow, the Doctor's mouth dropped open. "Oh, please give me a Dalek war ship."


	4. Chapter 4

Jackie Tyler sat across from the Doctor at the kitchen table in the Tyler mansion. Her arms were folded in front of her and she eyed him with a steely gaze. She had been strangely silent since the Doctor had convinced Rose to take Tony for his play date and whipped out the little blue box in front of Jackie. The Doctor almost wanted to snap his fingers in front of her face to see if she hadn't gone into some sort of trance, but thought better of it.

"Well, let's see the ring, then," Jackie finally said.

The Doctor winced under the pressure and opened the little box. Inside it was a ring with a small, bluest blue stone on a simple platinum band. At first glance, it was so simple, but so elegant in its design. But upon closer inspection, the blue stone seemed to swirl like clouds down into itself, giving off this dizzying kaleidoscope effect. There was something in the center too, if you looked hard enough… little circle etchings, overlapping each other and interlocking at key points.

"Oh, it's beautiful," Jackie cooed, finally breaking her resolve and leaning over the table to grab the Doctor by the tie and pull him right out of his chair for a hug. "Couldn't go with a traditional diamond, now could ya? But it's gorgeous!"

Smiling slowly now that the ring had won Jackie's approval, the Doctor held up the box. "It's persianite, actually," he explained. "Similar to benitoite in almost every regard, but this little stone is easier to shape and construct – more pliable. Made this ring myself, after a quick trip to Ustaniknack."

"What are ya on about?" Jackie asked, furrowing her brow.

"Ah, nothing. It's just the planet where…" the Doctor trailed off. "Anyway, it's also very good at forming the link that I needed. This little ring connects straight to the TARDIS core center. As long as she's wearing this, the TARDIS can monitor her vital signs, whereabouts… all within a certain distance, of course. Oh, and if she turns the stone clockwise just a bit…" The Doctor was about to demonstrate how Rose could use this as a transmitter to communicate with anyone inside the TARDIS, but Jackie had a look on her face that made him want to crawl under the table. "It's… It's just a bit… Wot? Why are you staring at me like that?" The Doctor looked across the room at Pete for help. But Pete was leaning against the counter, trying very hard not to laugh.

"You can't even get a proper engagement ring without makin' it all alien, can ya? What's wrong with you? LoJacking my daughter is the most romantic thing you could come up with? Why couldn't ya 'ave just gone with a diamond?" Jackie looked over to Pete and held her palm out in the Doctor's direction. "Didya 'ear that, Pete? When Shelly Hooper is havin' her daughter flaunt her 2.5 carat diamond in my face and goin' on and on about her son-in-law, the financial manager, I get to say, 'Oh, well my daughter's ring monitors her vital signs!' As if not gettin' a decent house and flying 'round in outer space wasn't daft enough!"

Carefully closing the ring box and slowly slipping it back into the lining of his jacket, the Doctor gave an uncertain cough. "Well you know, Jackie… if it's any consolation, I'm sure persianite is more valuable than a common ol' diamond."

Jackie threw her hands up in exasperation. "Blimey, that's what I'll just 'ave to tell Shelly Hooper. It's a rare stone from Knicknack."

"Ustaniknack," corrected the Doctor, warily. "And I just thought… Well, with as jeopardy friendly as Rose is…"

"He's got ya there, Jacks," Pete said, chuckling quietly.

She sighed and reached over to pat the Doctor's hand, much to his surprise. "I know, it's just your way. You can't help it, can ya? I s'pose it is sweet… when you consider the source. At least it's from the 'eart – that's what's really important. Rose'll love it."

"You really think she will?" the Doctor asked.

Something about his disquieted question pared with his nervous posture made Jackie smile. "You know she will. She'll love anything you give her."

The Doctor shifted in his chair uncomfortably and ran his tongue over his teeth. "But what about what the ring…means? What do you think she'll say?"

"Look at ya!" Jackie exclaimed, getting up from her chair and coming around the table to pinch the Doctor's cheek – much to his annoyance. "The big, brave alien is all in a dither over a girl. Oh, why are ya even worryin' about it? She crossed dimensions to get back to ya; doesn't that say enough?"

"But what about the timing?" the Doctor protested. "When is the appropriate time for all this? When do most normal, human couples get married? When did you two know the time was right?"

"Well, I told him. Didn't I, Pete?" Jackie said, refilling her mug of tea.

Pete nodded. "Yeah. Yeah, she did. I, uh, never had to worry about that with this one."

Just then, the Doctor heard the front door open and he ruffled his wild hair with both hands out of frustration. "Fat lot of good this has done me. Should've asked Tony."

"Should've asked Tony what?" Rose asked, coming into the kitchen and trailing the little boy in question behind her.

"Calibrations for the dematerialization circuit," the Doctor stammered out into his tea mug. It was the first thing that popped into his mind.

"What?" Rose asked, eyeing him suspiciously.

"Wot? Nothing." Was his voice always this squeaky when caught off guard? "Tony!" he said exuberantly, "wanna come play in the TARDIS before dinner?"

The excitement that lit the child's face was absolutely joyous. "Yeah!" he yelled. "Hide and seek!"

After getting up from his chair and crossing the room, the Doctor was stopped by Rose. "Are you alright?" she asked, touching his arm lightly.

He jerked his thumb in the direction that Tony had taken off in. He did his best to give her a look of complete innocence. "Not now. I have to play hide and seek." Then he all but ran up the stairs to the guest bedroom that currently housed the new TARDIS. He was fairly certain he handled that well enough.


	5. Chapter 5

Rose sat on the jump seat and watched as the Doctor wandered around the console room, pretending to look for Tony when her little brother was clearly hiding just beneath her. Humoring him, like you do with children, the Doctor rubbed the back of his neck and feigned perplexity. He even pulled up a square in the grating and stuck his head down, yelling Tony's name.

"Well, Rose, I can't seem to find Tony anywhere. I might have to turn off the gravity and let him just float on over to us," he said to her, smiling conspiratorially.

Tony laughed giddy little snickers, but came crawling out from underneath her. "That's cheatin'!" he yelled, running out from his hiding spot and grabbing onto an expanse of coral. "Base!"

"There's no base on the TARDIS," the Doctor said, scooping him up. "Saw to that when I built her."

"Why's it look like a blue box?" Tony asked when the Doctor set him down again.

"Yeah," Rose said suddenly, glancing up at him. "I was wonderin' that too. Is the chameleon circuit on this one broken as well?"

"Oh yes," the Doctor told her. "Clone of the original, I'm afraid. Wiring issues that I can't change. All the same flaws."

"Is that so?" she asked. He just winked at her and she shook her head. "I don't see any flaws."

He deftly changed the subject and started showing Tony things on the monitor. In fact, Rose had noticed that he had been quite secretive about the new TARDIS. Some things never change, she supposed. But knowing him the way that she did, she understood why. It wasn't because he intentionally kept things from her. The simple truth in the matter was that the Doctor (though he would never admit it) liked showing off and being the cleverest in the room. She doubted he would ever tell her everything and that was alright with her because (even though she would never admit to him) she liked that he continued to impress her.

But lately, Rose had noticed that he seemed… off. Well, more so than usual, anyway. He was jumpy and nervous, deflecting questions and answering anything she asked very deliberately as if he were mulling over every response carefully. He hadn't even taken her for a trip in the new TARDIS yet, telling her that he wanted to make sure it was functioning properly. She had been disappointed, at first, but he then explained that he also was planning some sort of surprise for their first trip in it together. So she let it go, again, because she knew he wanted to show off.

She did, however, want to find out why he was acting so strangely and she wanted to find out before they left in the TARDIS tomorrow morning. So she waited until her mum called Tony away and the Doctor had started to tinker with the underside of the console.

"You did pack everything, didn't you?" the Doctor asked her. He was lying on his back against the grating as he used his sonic screwdriver on some wires. "I didn't install that huge closet in your new room for it to sit empty."

"Yeah," Rose said. "I already put all my bags in there." He just nodded. Rose knew he got distracted quite quickly when he was working on the TARDIS, so she figured that now would be the best time to catch him off guard. "So you're not… nervous or anythin' are you, about leavin' tomorrow?"

"Of course not," he said with a dismissive wave of his sonic screwdriver.

"'Cos, ya know, it's alright…if you are, I mean. Whole new universe to learn and all. It would make sense if you are feelin' a little unfamiliar with it." She self-consciously swung her feet that dangled over the floor.

"Nah, it's fine." The Doctor got up from underneath the console and beamed at her, but his smile fell away when he noticed her uncertain expression. "Are you nervous?" There it was again, he was scrutinizing her every reaction. "I wouldn't blame you if you were. New universe, new TARDIS," then he paused and looked away from her, "new Doctor." Before she could refute this, he turned his back to her and began messing with buttons at the controls.

Rose got down from the jump seat and went over to the other side of the console. She leaned across it towards him and said, "New universe, kinda new TARDIS, same ol' Doctor. I'm not worried at all."

He smiled at her, but it was tentative and contained. "You still trust me then?"

"Yeah. Course I do."

"You still wanna travel the stars?"

"Of course."

"You still wanna run for our lives?"

"Wouldn't have it any other way."

"Well then, Rose Tyler, it is gonna be…" He leaned in closer.

"Fantastic?" she finished for him.

"Oh, well… I was gonna say 'tiring.' But fantastic works too, I suppose," he said, inclining his head and shrugging.

Rose laughed and shook her head. The Doctor reached for her hand and pulled her around the console, drawing her near him. "And you know what else is fantastic?" he asked, moving a strand of hair out of her face.

"Hmm, what's that?" she asked as his face inched closer to hers. But before they got to finish that thought, her mobile rang. He let out an exasperated groan as Rose pulled it out of the pocket of her jeans and answered it. "Dad? Yeah. Alright, we'll be right down." She hung up and looked at the Doctor. "Dad said we need to come downstairs. There's a problem at Torchwood – with Jake."

The Doctor looked concerned. "What's the problem? Did he say?"

"He's… uh…he's missing," she said.


	6. Chapter 6

_**S******__or_ry it's taken so long for me to post new chapters. Work has kept me crazy busy... you know how it is. But thanks for all the encouragement and lovely reviews!

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At Torchwood, Pete, Richard, Rose, the Doctor all crowded into Pete's office.

"We need to keep this under wraps until we know more," Pete said. "I don't want anyone else possibly getting involved in this case."

"Other than Jake not showing up today, what makes you think that someone took him?" the Doctor asked.

"We couldn't get in touch with him all afternoon," Richard explained. "The GPS on his phone isn't working or his phone is off. When we couldn't contact him, I sent two operatives to his flat to find him. He wasn't there so we checked all his usual haunts. Since we had no luck with that, I went through his computer and was able to piece a couple things together."

"So this has something to do with what Jake was working on, yeah?" Rose asked.

"Yeah," said Richard. "Jake was investigating some disappearances taking place in East London. There were twelve disappearances, as a matter of fact." He handed Rose and the Doctor a file.

After putting on his glasses, the Doctor started to scan the papers. "All the disappearances were single men between the ages of 25 and 45," he noted. "Different jobs, incomes, histories…"

Pete nodded. "The only fact that they had in common was that they were all single. But that's not the oddest part." Pete directed their attention to a paper a couple of pages back in the file. "Most of them just showed back up a couple weeks later. They had no reasonable explanation for their whereabouts. Family, friends, co-workers all reported them missing and then they just popped back into their lives. But they all seemed… different than before they went missing."

"How so?" the Doctor asked.

"Well, to put it simply, these men were all… of the socially awkward and unpolished variety," Pete said. "The people who knew them described more than a few of them as shy, quiet, socially withdrawn… And then when they turned back up, they were outgoing, friendly, confident, and witty. They looked different, talked different, acted different."

"Jake interviewed quite a few of them, but wasn't able to get them to open up. He did finally discover that they were all using a dating website called 'Passionflame' And here's where it gets harder for us to follow, actually," Richard explained. "We took a look at Jake's computer and it seems that he set up an account on this website and actually had multiple conversations with a woman before he went missing. Here, I'll show you." Richard pulled up some chat log archives on Pete's computer and flipped the screen around to show the Doctor and Rose.

"Was he authorized to do this?" Rose wondered out loud. "I mean, Jake didn't…dance with women. So he obviously wouldn't be doin' this for himself."

"No," Pete admitted. "This was all done of his own accord. He never told anyone that he made an account on here, let alone talked to this woman."

"The last messages were about Jake meeting this woman at 'Scalloped Edge Café.' Is that the last place we know he was at?" the Doctor asked.

"Yeah," Richard said. "I mean, he didn't even tell us that he was doing all this. That's the only lead we have."

"Has anyone been down to the Scalloped Edge?" The Doctor leaned over the desk, scrolling through the chat log and squinting at the screen from behind his specs.

"We sent some operatives down before contacting you all," Richard said. "They questioned the staff, did some scans… They didn't get anywhere. No one can verify that he was even there."

"And two hours ago, Jake logged into the system," Pete said, rubbing his temple.

"Where from?" asked the Doctor, standing up straight and putting his glasses in his jacket.

"Dunno," Pete admitted. "I.P. address was untraceable."

"Nothing's untraceable," the Doctor said, pulling out his sonic screwdriver and pointing it at the computer screen. The monitor ran through a dozen images before the Doctor looked at the readings. "Ah, well… never mind, then."

"But that means that he's alive," Rose said hopefully.

"Or someone else logged him into our database," Richard offered.

"Rose… Doctor, I know you were both keen on leaving tomorrow morning," Pete began.

"Dad," Rose said, looking over at the Doctor who gave her a slight nod, "we won't leave until we've found Jake. I mean, how can we?"

"Thank you," Pete said sincerely. Turning to the Doctor, he asked, "Where do you want to start?"

The Doctor sucked a breath in through his teeth. "Probably the Scalloped Edge Café. Maybe we can find something that someone else missed. Pete, Richard, have someone go through Jake's computer – every file. There's gotta be some reason Jake went rogue on this one. He's reckless, but he's not stupid." He grabbed Rose's hand and began to lead her out of the office, but turned back and looked at the two men. "Oh, and see what you can dig up on this 'Passionflame' website. It's too connected for my liking."

"Do ya think he's alright?" Rose asked as she fiddled with her earring once they had left her dad's office and were making their way down the hall.

"I hope so," the Doctor said. "I really hope so."


	7. Chapter 7

The Scalloped Edge (which Rose had never even heard of) was a lovely little café. It was sort of modern with exposed brick walls and clean, contemporary furnishings. Simplistic black and white photographs hung on the walls along with a huge chalkboard menu that dwarfed every other decorative touch. The main bar was polished wood and stainless steel, jutting out into the room in a half circle.

There was one man behind the bar. Actually, he looked more like a teenager with his baby face, unruly brown hair, and a surly expression. But something about his heavy lidded eyes told Rose that he was older than he appeared. Late twenties, maybe.

He handed a cup of coffee to a man at the counter and then looked up expectantly at the Doctor and Rose.

"Hello," the Doctor said, cheerily. "I'm the Doctor and this is Rose. Could we have a moment of your time?"

The young man looked disgruntled at that. "If you buy something," he said.

"Ah, of course," the Doctor agreed and handed the young man some money. "Two cups of tea, then."

Rose and the Doctor sat on the metal barstools while the young man made their tea. The Doctor waited patiently and after the young man gave him his change said, "Now, this won't take but a moment. I'd just like to know if you've seen this man in here." The Doctor pulled out his phone and showed the young man a picture of Jake.

"Are you from Torchwood too?" the young man asked.

"Nah, Torchwood One," the Doctor said with a winning smile. "London base."

"Look, I already told you men in black, I haven't seen the guy. I didn't work last night," the young man said, turning around.

"I worked last night, let me take a look," said a tall woman with dark skin and lovely, mahogany curls streaked with bright red. She had just come out the back room, wiping her hands on a towel that hung at her belt. The Doctor handed her his phone. "Oh, yeah he was in here alright."

"He made an impression?" asked the Doctor.

"Sort of," she admitted. "But it was the woman that he was with that really seemed memorable."

"So he was here with a woman?" Rose asked her. "What was she like? Have you seen her in here before?"

"Well, she was like… I dunno, just different." The woman behind the counter looked around, as if she felt uneasy. "She was odd."

"How so?" the Doctor asked.

"The way she was dressed… she just seemed like…like she wasn't from here, ya know?"

"Describe her for me," the Doctor said, pulling out a pen and pad of paper from his jacket.

"Well, she had on this tight black dress that looked like it was from the 40's or something. It had a white collar and pearl buttons. She had this big, black hat on that had netting on it. You know the ones?" The Doctor nodded. "Oh, and her shoes were these really expensive looking black heels. We just don't get many people in here dressed like they're goin' to the opera, you know. I didn't see her face. The guy she was with, he came up and ordered. He got a black tea and a cappuccino. They sat in the corner for a while, and then they left."

"Is that it?" Rose asked. "You don't know where they went? They just left?"

"Yeah," the woman said. "Finished their drinks and then they walked out."

"What table were they sitting at?" Rose asked her.

The woman nodded in the direction of the last table to their left. As Rose wandered over to it, she heard the Doctor continue to question the woman behind the counter about how the couple seemed when they left the café. Rose sat at the table, looking around the café. She just refused to believe that they had hit a dead end. There had to be something more to this. It didn't make any sense. While she ran her fingers over the silver candle stands on the table, she tried to put herself in Jake's position and wondered why he would do such a careless thing. It wasn't like him.

When Rose noticed that the Doctor had put his paper away and was appearing to wrap up his conversation with the woman, she stood up. But something underneath the table brushed against her jeans. Rose leaned over and felt the underside of the wood. Her hand made contact with some sort of paper stuck there. She tugged at it and whatever it was came free. Shocked at what she had found, Rose could only stare at what she had in her hand.

"Oh my God," she gasped. "Doctor?"

"What, Rose?" he asked, coming over to her. "What is that?"

"I found it underneath the table," she said, handing it to him. "It's Jake's Torchwood I.D. badge… and this." In her hand was a white, paper rose.

"Let's see that, then," the Doctor said, putting on his specs and taking the paper rose from her. He held it on his palm carefully, looking at it from every angle before unfolding a corner of the paper. The paper rose seemed to bloom in his hand, unfolding more and more as he slowly tugged at the corner until it became just a flat sheet of paper. On it was some strange scrawling that Rose couldn't make out. She knew it was a word, only in another language.

**ιατρός**

"That's Greek, yeah?" Rose asked, noticing the way that the Doctor's eyes narrowed and his jaw clenched. "Shouldn't the TARDIS translate that for me?"

"Translation circuit might need some calibrating," he muttered, still staring at the paper. "Try concentrating a bit more," he told her.

She focused on the word until it blurred in her vision and then shook her head. "It's not translating. What does it mean?"

He handed her the paper and put his hands over hers. "Try it now."

Rose let out a shaky breath as the letters on the page reformed. She looked up to see the Doctor lift his chin and eye her cautiously. "You see it?" he asked.

"Yeah. Yeah, I do," she said. Rose looked back down at the paper, fixating on the word that was written there…

**Doctor**

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_**Trying to get as much written as I can. Bare with me and my crazy schedule. Hopefully it'll be back to normal soon. I want to try to get at least two chapters a week published. Thank you for reading!**_


	8. Chapter 8

"They didn't know anything, Dad," Rose told Pete on her mobile as she and the Doctor pounded the pavement on their way back to her car. "Jake was there with a woman and we got a description – that's all we have to go on." She noticed the Doctor shoot a curious glance in her direction. Rose knew he was wondering why she wasn't saying anything about Jake's I.D. badge or the paper rose clearly meant for the Doctor. But she had her reasons. Chief among them was that she didn't trust Torchwood – not fully, not yet. Sure, she had worked there and her dad ran the place now, but they were all still novices when it came right down to it. She knew better now than to give away all her cards unnecessarily. Rose inwardly shrugged; probably something she picked up from the Doctor. And when it came down to it, it was better with just the two of them. They were simply just more capable. They had always only needed each other – only relied on each other. It was a habit that worked. "We want to interview some of the blokes that Jake talked to. The ones that disappeared. Got any contact information on them?" Rose asked her dad.

After Rose shoved her mobile back in her pocket, she dug out her car keys and zipped up her jacket as she shivered a bit from the cool breeze. The Doctor stood on the other side of her car, arms resting on the top of it as he studied her. If the cold affected him at all, he didn't show it. "You withheld information from your superior," he said. His tone was stern, but his eyes were curious and appraising.

Rose opened the car door. "Torchwood is always on a need-to-know basis with me."

The Doctor followed suit. "And you don't think they need to know about Jake's I.D. badge?" he asked.

Moving the car into gear, Rose bit her lip and glanced quickly in his direction. "More like I don't reckon they need to know about the note left for you. At least, not yet. If someone is going to find out why that is, I'd rather it be us first."

He hid a smile, pressing his lips together in a thin line, nodded, and looked out the window. "You want to filter the information; control what they know and how the information is presented."

"Right," Rose said. "Somethin' wrong with that?"

Sighing, the Doctor said, "It's not very Torchwood of you."

"We're freelance now, remember. If they want our help now, it's by our own rules."

"But why would you think to filter information about the note left for me?"

Rose shrugged as she drove to the address that her dad gave her. "S'pose 'cos it's personal now."

"Instinct taking over?" the Doctor asked her. "Covering your tracks, camouflaging your nest? A very basic survival tactic."

"Yeah, I guess it is," she admitted. "Why? You gettin' an idea?"

The Doctor made an exaggerated frown. "It just seemed like a very logical reason to hide something from them – because it's personal."

Rose finally realized what the Doctor was getting at. "You think that's why Jake did all this in secret, yeah?"

"Makes sense," he said. "We've been wondering why he went rogue on this one. Could be for a similar reason that you just did."

"I'm not going 'rogue.' I just didn't tell them everything," Rose protested. "Not used to sharing everything. And I'm really not used to relying on loads of people that I don't know very well to handle things that I'd rather do myself." She smiled at him with her tongue between her teeth. "Might have picked that up somewhere."

"Jake's pretty similar then, actually," the Doctor said. "He admires and trusts your father and Richard. But we have to remember that when we met him, he only trusted a small group of ragtag friends. It was only them against the big, powerful Cybus Industries. It stands to reason that he would be as distrustful of the organization that Torchwood is becoming, doesn't it?"

Rose nodded. "I see your point. So we just have to figure out why this assignment was personal to him."

"If I had to guess," the Doctor rationed, "I'd say that it was probably for the same reason that you hid the information about the note left for me from your father. Someone he cares about is involved. He's protecting someone. We just have to figure out who that someone is."

"Well, this could be a start," Rose said, parking the car. She and the Doctor exited and stood on the pavement staring up at a huge, posh building. "Flat of Harvey Larkin. He was the most recent disappearance that turned back up three weeks ago. He was a strugglin' author but ever since he reappeared, Mr. Larkin signed a huge publishing deal on his next crime novel and hit his big break. He quit his job as an assistant editor and moved in here. His twin sister, Selma, reported him missin' and he won't tell anyone where he was. He's hosting some gathering here tonight to celebrate. They're callin' him the new Dan Brown."

"We're going to crash his party?" the Doctor asked her. He looked delighted at the prospect. "Psychic paper would be handy right about now," he said, rubbing his chin.

"Who needs psychic paper when you're the mysterious Vitex heiress?" Rose asked him and strode right up to the man standing at the glass doors. "Rose Tyler and Doctor John Smith," she said simply.

The man (who was obviously security judging by how large and imposing he was) stepped back a few paces and said something into his headset.

"Oh, tell me it's not that easy," the Doctor said, holding back laughter.

Then he stepped forward again and nodded at her. "Right upstairs, Miss Tyler. You'll want to hit the lift button for the penthouse."

"Thanks," Rose told the man and went inside. When they got to the lift, she turned to see the Doctor grinning like the cheshire cat. "Somethin' funny?" she asked him, smiling back at him because she already knew.

"All this time I've been running around with psychic paper, lying through my teeth, when all I really needed to do was pick up an heiress. Best keycard in the world, you are," he said, his enthusiasm lighting up his face making him look positively boyish.

She laughed. "There are perks to being moderately famous."

"Next you'll tell me that I don't need to sneak and sonic my way into high security facilities," he said as the lift doors opened.

"I don't know if the perks extend that far," she said. "But usually the Torchwood clearance helps with that."

"Blimey, I think I might actually miss hearing 'halt' and having guns waved in my face."

"Oh, don't worry," she quipped, "I'm sure with the trouble the two of us get up to, that'll still happen."

"Good," the Doctor said as Rose pressed the button for the penthouse. "Wouldn't want to get out of practice."


	9. Chapter 9

The lift doors opened to reveal a small hallway connected to a very stark, monochromatic flat. The furnishings and décor was very sparse. What little furniture there was seemed cold, uncomfortable, and starched. The only real color or distraction from the bare loft was the bustle of people drinking champagne and holding conversations in tight groups.

As Rose and the Doctor made their way through the throng of people, he leaned over and murmured out of the corner of his mouth, "So which one is Harvey Larkin?"

Rose gestured to a trim, tanned man in an ivory suit leaning against an arm chair having what appeared to be a very boring conversation with at least seven other people. His brash smile and arrogant stance looked entirely different on him than the picture that his twin sister had given Torchwood when he went missing. In that picture he had seemed modest and sincere. "He's the one who seems like the center of everything," Rose said.

"That little crowd of followers might make it difficult to get close to him," the Doctor noted.

"I didn't really want to talk to him," Rose told him and nodded in the direction of a business suit clad woman standing in the corner of the room. Rose saw the resemblance right off. This woman had to be Selma Larkin – she had the same thick, wavy dark hair and angular features as her brother. The only difference between them now really was that Selma's more humble and uneasy expression mirrored the picture of Harvey that she had given Torchwood rather than the cocky, self-assured bloke that was now the life of the party. Selma stood off to the side of the bustle, gulping champagne and watching the crowd with interest.

"Ah," the Doctor said, running a hand through his hair, "domestic approach. How come I never think of that? Must be some sort of mental block – subconscious whats-it."

"That's why I'm here," Rose teased and elbowed his arm. "C'mon."

"Tell ya what, how about you go talk to the uptight, boring accountant and I'll just have a peek into some of the other rooms while everyone's distracted."

"Doctor," Rose chided.

"No, seriously, go on. Bond over human girl things like non-fat dairy products and tiny handbags."

"I don't own any tiny handbags," Rose said, rolling her eyes.

"Well, then compliment her choice of footwear. You'll be brilliant. I believe in you. I'm just gonna pop in that room over there."

"That's the toilet," Rose told him.

The Doctor gave her a slow smile. "You really want to know someone, have a look in their medicine cabinet."

Rose gave up and waved him on. There was no convincing him otherwise when he got like this. And, truth be told, he was usually right. Sighing, Rose grabbed a glass of champagne from a table and weaved in between the small crowd to Selma Larkin. "Miss Larkin," she said. "Hi. I'm Rose Tyler. I work for Torchwood."

Selma seemed surprised to be addressed. "Oh. Um, hello." She extended her hand in Rose's direction. "Is… is everything alright?"

"Yeah, yeah," Rose assured her. "Just followin' up, you know?"

"Right. Well, you've picked a good night of it," she said, glancing around the room with candid apprehension.

"Reckon you're proud of him," Rose noted, nodding in the direction of Harvey.

Selma fiddled with her bracelet. "He's worked very hard for this."

"Yeah, weeks gone missin' and then he's finished this book. Must've been important for him to worry his family like that."

"That's what he says," Selma agreed. To Rose, she didn't seem very convinced.

Rose watched Selma drain the second glass of champagne that she'd had since Rose and the Doctor arrived. "You don't believe him?" she asked.

Selma swooped the room with her nervous eyes and then turned to Rose. "It's just… odd. He's so different."

"How's he different?"

"I've known Harvey all my life. We've been ever so close. And now… It's just like my brother's been… I don't know how to describe it," she trailed off, looking for an explanation. "Enhanced. It's like he's been enhanced."

"Enhanced?" Rose wondered aloud. She thought that was a very strange word to use.

"He was always so shy and… soft spoken. I mean, just look at him," Selma waved her champagne glass in his direction. Harvey was surrounded by people, all hanging on his every word. His face was plastered with a wicked smirk as he ran the tips of his fingers over the arm of a clearly enchanted young woman. "The real Harvey…" Selma paused and furrowed her brow. "The old Harvey would have hated this party. He would have been hiding in the kitchen and begging everyone not to make a fuss. Crowds used to give him anxiety attacks. He would have much preferred to be locked away in his study with his computer and his books."

"Introvert," the Doctor's voice suggested from behind them. Both women turned to face him. "Hello," he said to Selma in his usual manner, "I'm the Doctor."

"Are you here to examine my brother?" Selma asked, confused.

"I think she's doing a pretty good job of that," the Doctor said, jutting his chin at Harvey and pulling a face. Rose and Selma turned to see the crowd around Harvey had dissipated and now he was snogging the young woman that he had just been flirting with.

"Oh my God," Rose said, scrunching up her face. "How much has he had to drink?"

"Quite enough," Selma sighed, setting down her champagne glass and going over to stop her brother from making a fool of himself.

"And I thought Shakespeare was a cad," the Doctor said. He was fiddling with a small bottle of something.

"What's that?" Rose asked him.

"Dunno yet," he admitted. "Someone needed to use the loo. But I found loads of these bottles under the sink." After looking around to make sure they weren't being watched, the Doctor unscrewed the bottle and smelled it. He made an uncertain face, poured a bit of the liquid on his index finger, and then swiped his finger over his tongue. "Ah," he said, wiping his finger off on his lapel, "myrtle oil." He stuck the bottle in his jacket pocket. "Something else, though. Undertone of something."

"Undertone of what?" Rose wondered, still shaking her head at his affinity for tasting every strange substance he came in contact with.

"Well, if I didn't have a human tongue now I could tell you. But such as it is, haven't the foggiest. Better to run some tests on it back in the TARDIS."

"We should shift then," Rose suggested. "Think we've learned enough?"

"Where'd you think Harvey keeps his computer?" the Doctor mused aloud.

Rose rolled her eyes. "You're gonna get us kicked out," she warned him.

"Everyone's distracted," he said. And, in fact, everyone was. Selma was scolding Harvey while the whole room watched. The young, up-and-coming author was scoffing at her and making a big show out of behaving like an arrogant ass. "C'mon, it'll be fun," the Doctor told her, giving her those enticing eyes that he knew she couldn't resist.

The Doctor and Rose snuck down the hallway of Harvey Larkin's flat. Rose peered back now and again to make sure that no one noticed them, but the Doctor didn't seem to be too concerned with that – or he figured that Rose would do the looking out; she wasn't sure which. They passed the loo and continued on their way to the next closed door. After sonicing it open, the Doctor looked inside and then closed the door again. "Bedroom," he told her and went to the next door. "Aha!" he said quietly when he had the door to the next room open. "Here we are." He gave a quick glance around and then ushered her inside.

The study was small, quaint, and actually quite colorful compared to the rest of the flat. Rose noticed a huge bookshelf that covered an entire wall and went to inspect it while the Doctor busied himself by running his sonic screwdriver over Harvey's computer. She felt as if she was getting a glimpse of the real Harvey Larkin. There on the shelves were numerous volumes of Charles Dickens, Tolstoy, Ian Flemming… The books were all dog-eared and falling apart at the spines as if he'd read each one hundreds of times. And among the books were family pictures – he and Selma as children at Christmases and Birthdays. Again, she could tell just from the pictures that he had changed drastically. A book sitting by a chair, however, was the one that caught her eye. "Gods and Goddesses of Ancient Greece and Rome," she read the title out loud.

But before she could investigate further, she heard the Doctor almost shout in his triumph. "Knew it!" he said, flipping his sonic over in his hand and then tucking it away in his inside jacket pocket. "Harvey Larkin was talking to the some woman on that website – the same one Jake was on. Oh, we just have to get him alone!"

Rose turned to shush him, but heard footsteps coming their way down the hall and froze. She let out a defeated sigh, there was no way out of this one. They were going to get caught.

The Doctor, on the other hand, sprang into action. He switched the computer off and dashed towards her, grabbing her around the waist. "Kiss me," he said hurridly.

"Wha'?" Rose asked, stunned by his outburst.

"It's better they all think that we snuck in here for a drunken snog than snooping," he said with a goofy grin and descended on her before she had a chance to protest.

Really, he was much too disarming than he had any right to be. Rose felt her head spin and her knees almost gave way when his lips met hers. This was ridiculous; they had kissed many times now and she should have been able to keep her wits about her – especially now when they were just kissing as an alibi and about to be interrupted at any moment. So why was she failing at remembering her own name at the moment? Rose sank against him and couldn't help herself as she pulled him down with her onto the desk. She felt him stagger in surprise and apprehensively follow her lead, deepening the kiss until she had a feeling that they were no longer pretending. The Doctor had effectively swept her off her feet with one little peck and she knew he wasn't even trying. At least, he hadn't been at first. She surprised herself, and him, by doing something she hadn't ever done before and gently took his bottom lip between her teeth. She was delighted at his reaction as she felt him jolt against her. This kiss had become decidedly very different than all of the others. There was a desperation and a hunger that hadn't been present before in their careful control and care. There was nothing tender about this kiss and they both seemed keenly aware of it as Rose wrapped her legs around him. Something had snapped within her and startled the flummoxed Doctor. When his hand ran over her thigh (probably so that he could untangle himself from her and find out what had gotten into her), she made a sound that seemed to knock all sense from him and his grip on her tightened. This elicited another noise from her throat and she heard him slam his other hand down onto the desk as if he urgently needed to brace himself.

And that's when a bright flash blinded her even from behind her closed eyelids. The Doctor jerked away from her and she briefly caught sight of his wide eyed, tense, dark expression before they heard someone at the door say, "Ahem."

Rose and the Doctor both looked towards the door to see the security guard from downstairs standing there looking rather amused. "Alright, you two," he said, trying not to burst out in laughter, "think you need to take this elsewhere." The flash had come from a reporter who was standing behind the security guard, looking quite pleased with himself for catching the moment on camera.

"Right," said the Doctor, his voice a little higher pitched than normal. "Uh, we'll be going now. Some strong champagne, that." He grabbed Rose's hand and led her out of the flat, obviously grateful that his plan had worked but he still seemed to regard her with suspicion.

Once they were out on the street and on their way to the car, the Doctor dropped her hand and started to rub the back of his neck. "Good acting," he said after clearing his throat.

Rose had been trying to work out why she had reacted the way that she did. Truth be told, it wasn't as if the Doctor didn't always knock her a little off kilter any time that he kissed her, but she hadn't ever lost her senses in that way before and acted so… confidently. That was it… it was as if she had been given a surge of confidence in that moment. It was strange. "I wasn't actin'," she muttered and looked tentatively in his direction.

He slumped against the car door, his mouth slightly open and his eyes squinted in confusion. "Well… uh…oh. Um…" It seemed as if he couldn't think of anything to say. Imagine that. The Doctor was rendered completely speechless.

_Great_, Rose thought. _I think I broke him._


	10. Chapter 10

They drove back to the Tyler Mansion in silence. Rose chewed on the inside of her lip while she steered and tried to think of a joke or topic to bring up to dispel the awkwardness. They seemed to be having a lot of these moments lately, actually. She supposed that it came from being in new territory. Every once in a while the Doctor would open his mouth as if he were going to say something, close it again, look out the window, and pull on his ear. Rose started to lose count of how many times during the drive that he did this.

After what she supposed was the thirteenth time of this little routine, he deftly pulled out his sonic screwdriver and nonchalantly scanned her with it as if he were doing something as normal as adjusting his tie. He studied it intently and, with a shrug, returned it to his jacket pocket.

Rose couldn't take it anymore. "I'm not a Slitheen," she quoted him.

"No, s'pose you're not," he said, hiding a smile. "The smell would give you away. But I was almost wondering if you weren't possessed by a lipstick wearing trampoline for a second."

"I'm not," she said hotly in her embarrassment.

"Good. Don't need that again," he said. Then he seemed to note her expression. "I mean… the possession part anyway." And with that, they didn't speak for the rest of the ride home.

After arriving at the mansion, the Doctor tried to escape to the sanctuary of his TARDIS (as he so often did when things got a little uncomfortable between the two of them), but Jackie called out to them to come into the kitchen the moment they walked through the front door.

"What is it, Mum?" Rose asked when she and the Doctor had navigated through the littering of Tony's toys filling the hall.

Jackie had her laptop sitting on the kitchen table. She glared at the two of them and tutted, arms crossed over her chest. After an uncomfortable amount of time, she spun the laptop around and showed them the picture that was on it.

There on the screen were the Doctor and Rose in Harvey Larkin's study, snogging like a couple of teenagers. Rose groaned and threw her head back in exasperation.

The Doctor, on the other hand, leaned forward as if he was inspecting the picture thoroughly. He then turned wide, horrified eyes at Rose. "Rose Tyler, how scandalous of you!" he said in mock disapproval. "I am shocked. Just… shocked."

"Oi!" Jackie said, lightly slapping his arm. "Don't act like you didn't 'ave a hand in it too."

"Well, see that's where you're wrong, Jackie. That man might bare a resemblance to me – I mean, the back of his head is very striking – But I would never engage in such activities with your daughter in a public setting. You know me, always a gentleman." The Doctor tugged on his ear and grinned at her. "In fact, I'd go so far as to say that it could be someone… or something… imitating my likeness in order to foil everyone into believing that I would… behave so… indecorously." He cleared his throat. "Right, so I'll just pop right into the TARDIS and see if I can't catch the handsome devil before he causes any more tarnish to your daughter's reputation."

"Oh no ya don't," Jackie said, blocking his path. "Explain this."

"We got caught investigating something and used kissing as a cover," the Doctor explained to her as if this sort of thing happened all the time. "What I don't understand is how it got passed around this fast."

"That reporter must have chirped it," Rose said.

"Wot?" the Doctor asked.

"It's a website called Chitter where people upload all sorts of things instantly – they call it chirping," Rose told him.

The Doctor just nodded at her with a look of resignation. "Of course it is."

"And now we're gonna 'ave bloody reporters camping outside the gate like vultures. I couldn't get rid of 'em for three whole weeks when you first got here. This is gonna be a nightmare."

"I do believe, Jackie, that I was the one who got rid of them by deploying the use of that optical exposure altimeter interceptor thus rendering all their cameras useless. Won't be a problem to do that all again," the Doctor quipped back to her.

"If ya woulda just kept your tongue in your own mouth then we wouldn't 'ave to worry about it in the first place," Jackie countered, smiling a little at the blush that crept up the Doctor's face.

Just then, the Doctor's eyes became huge and his jaw dropped open as if someone had smacked him in the face. "Ohh… Oh, that's good!" He shouted and ran a frenzied hand through his wild hair. "Jackie Tyler, you're brilliant!"

"What are ya on about?" Jackie asked the Doctor, backing away from him as he bounced about like someone had wound him up a bit too far.

"Shh," the Doctor said to her, "don't ruin it. I don't get to say that often. Oh, clever clever clever" He ignored the ire in Jackie's eyes and turned to Rose. "Would've gotten it sooner if you hadn't of snogged all proper function out of my brain. Awful little human hormones slowing down my synapses! How do you all get anything done? Ah, but I've got it now!"

Rose shook her head and stared at him in confusion. "Got what?"

He beamed at her. "A tongue!" he yelled and dashed out of the room at top speed.

"With as much as he wags his around, you'd reckon he'd already know he 'as a tongue," Jackie said to Rose.

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**_So I'm still trying to get this written with a full schedule. I promise that I haven't abandoned it; real life just keeps getting in the way - Like the 50th anniversary party we threw last week complete with fish fingers and custard, banana cupcakes with edible ball bearings, and sonic screwdriver drinks! I was happy with The Day of the Doctor, actually. I must be one of the only Rose/10 fans that was fine with Moffat leaving her character alone and using the Bad Wolf as the interface. I don't want him messing with Rose - look what he did to River Song! But everyone was wonderful in the 50th and it was hard to say "goodbye" to David Tennant again - just like it will be heartbreaking to see Matt Smith go. I want to grab them both by the ties and make them be the Doctors together forever. :) And (SPOILERS) I jumped up and down in my seat to see Tom Baker for his cameo! He's my favorite of the classic Doctors!_**

**_Oh, and on a slightly different note, so I'm a huge Backstreet Boy fan (have been since I was 12 years old) and on their new album is a song called, "Make Believe." Look it up on Youtube - seriously. I don't care what you're doing! I was listening to it the other day and it just now hit me that this song is completely and totally about Rose and the Doctor - and not just a little bit - it's like it was written for them. I'm wondering if the BSB aren't Whovians now. Hmm..._**


	11. Chapter 11

After what seemed like an endless amount of time wandering around the new TARDIS (_Why did he need so many rooms?), _Rose heard a racket of clattering and commotion coming from the Med Bay. The Doctor was perched on a stool looking at a slide on a very complex and strange looking microscope of some kind. Every once in a while the screen attached to the microscope would blur and make a hissing noise. When it did this, the Doctor would slap the side of it and point his sonic screwdriver at the malfunctioning screen in frustration.

"Whatcha doin'?" Rose asked casually.

"Come over here so I can swab your mouth," he said, not looking up from the microscope.

"We need to work on your pick up lines," she teased him.

"Remember how I said there was something else in the myrtle oil; something that I couldn't get a proper read on?"

"Yeah?"

"I think it affected you when we kissed earlier," he said, motioning for her to come closer.

Rose sighed and walked over to stand next to him. "You mean because you just had to go and put some strange stuff in your mouth?" she asked as he grabbed a swab from a jar.

"Yeah, sorry about that," said the Doctor, not looking sorry at all. "Now, open wide."

She did. "But you weren't affected?" Rose mumbled as he gently swabbed the inside of her cheek.

"Nope," he said. "Well, not by the myrtle oil." He shot her a brief, coy smile before returning to the microscope and changing the slides.

"So what is it?" Rose asked. "What's in the myrtle oil?"

The Doctor smacked the side of the screen again. "Some kind of biological protein. It's not from Earth, I can tell you that. And it's not artificial… More like some sort of bodily fluid or secretion."

Rose pulled a face. "You mean I was affected by alien snot?"

"Could be…" the Doctor said, changing the slides again. "It seems to be working its way out of your system very quickly though. Thankfully it was a small amount."

"But what about you, Doctor? You're the one who stuck it in your mouth. Why's it not doin' anything to you?"

"I must have metabolized it very quickly," he explained. "Not human enough, I guess."

"Is it dangerous?" Rose asked.

"Nah," the Doctor said. "Seems harmless enough. Well, I say harmless… It's not lethal or poisonous at least."

"Oh, that makes me feel better." She rolled her eyes. "So, hang on, what does it do?"

"Dunno." He shrugged. "What did it do? How did it affect you?"

Rose blushed and started chewing absentmindedly on her nails. "I just… I reckon I just felt… bold." Forgetting her embarrassment for a moment, she tried to think of an accurate way to describe it. "Ya know like when you've had a couple drinks down at the pub and suddenly you get the nerve to sing karaoke or dance like an idiot. But it wasn't like I was sloshed or anythin'. Just…" she trailed off.

"Loss of inhibitions," the Doctor said, musing aloud. "The real liquid courage. Well, without the nasty side effects of a hangover."

Nodding, Rose added, "I wasn't worried about anythin'. It was strange."

"Liberating?" the Doctor asked her.

"I guess so," she admitted.

"What would you do if you knew you could not fail," he said, obviously ignoring how uncomfortable this conversation was making Rose since apparently she would attack the Doctor like Shareen going after bass players at shows. "Certainly explains Harvey Larkin's sudden boost in confidence." The Doctor walked over to the counter and picked up the little bottle of myrtle oil, studying it with his scrutinizing gaze over the rim of his glasses. "But where did he get it? Who gave him access to this?"

"So they talk to some woman on a dating website, disappear for a while, and turn up all different. Reckon the others have bottles of this stuff too?" Rose asked.

"More than likely," he said, then smirked. "But we could always check it out. You know, to be sure."

"Right," Rose said, shaking her head at him. "We need to find out who this woman is that they've all been talkin' to."

"Yeah," the Doctor agreed, still staring at the bottle. "Our femme fatale seems to be the key to all this. Wish I had gotten more time with Harvey's computer; might have found out a name."

"We should question Harvey or someone else who went missin'," Rose suggested. "Wonder if they'll tell us something about her."

"I think Harvey might be out of the question," the Doctor said. "Can't very well just walk up to him and say, 'Remember us? We're the couple from Torchwood that was kicked out of your flat for kissing in your study. By the way, I also nicked a bottle of myrtle oil laced with an alien substance from your loo and we were just wondering if a mysterious woman in black that you met off of a dating website gave it to you.' I'm fairly certain that he wouldn't be that interested in spilling his secrets to us."

"Fine," Rose said. "Then we'll just have to find someone else to interrogate. S'not like we don't have our pick of the lot." She produced a file from her tote bag that she used for work. "How about Alan Weiss? He was the first to up and disappear that we know of. He's got no family to speak of, so his co-workers reported him vanishin' when he didn't show up to work for a few days."

"Starting at the beginning." The Doctor nodded and then went back to his slides. "Chronological order is so boring, isn't it? But, I suppose, that would be the place to start."

"I'm gonna at least get a kip in before you cause any more trouble," Rose told him. "My chance to see if this bed is as comfy as the last one. Don't spend all night staring at that thing. You do need sleep now, remember."

"Yes, yes, I know," the Doctor said flippantly. Then he shot straight up and looked over at her with interest. "You're…sleeping here?"

"Yeah," she said, yawning.

"On the TARDIS?"

"Yeah." Then she paused. "That okay?"

"It's just…" He stopped and smiled slowly at her. "Well, you haven't slept here yet."

To Rose, the meaning behind his words was obvious enough though he wasn't saying it out right. But that was his way, wasn't it? "It's home, yeah?" she asked casually.

The Doctor kept grinning but returned to his microscope. After Rose had taken a couple steps down the corridor, she thought she heard him say, "It is now."


	12. Chapter 12

"No one gets in to see Mr. Weiss without an appointment." Alan Weiss's secretary was a small, slick man with a face like a rodent. He glared disdainfully at the Doctor and Rose for having the gull to interrupt his typing. "I can take down your information and then Mr. Weiss will determine if he has a block in his schedule to allow a visit sometime in the near future. That's the best that I can do for you."

"But we're from Torchwood," Rose told the secretary. "He was reported missing to us not too long ago. We just need to follow up."

"He's not missing anymore. Everything's fine. What's Torchwood doing mucking about with missing people anyway?" the secretary asked, going back to his computer screen clearly not concerned with an explanation.

Rose sighed and turned back to the Doctor. He was staring out the glass door at the office full of little cubicles. "Looks like we've hit a wall," she said.

"Torchwood clearance can't get us past one man with a computer?" the Doctor asked her as she rolled her eyes at him. "Psychic paper would."

"Yeah, well we haven't got any," Rose said as she followed the Doctor out into the office area of Baron Web Design Inc. "So how do you reckon we…" she trailed off as the Doctor pulled out his sonic screwdriver. "What are you up to?"

"What makes you think I'm up to something?" he asked innocently as he walked over to an empty cubical.

"You've got that look that you get when you're about to do somethin' totally mad."

"Me? Mad? Whatever gave you that idea?" the Doctor asked as he winked at her. He started whistling and turned towards the computer in the cubical, covering the sonic screwdriver with his hand. With a faint buzz, the computer simply switched off. Rose watched as all the people working let out cries of dismay as every computer in the office went black. "Oh, look at that," the Doctor told her, affecting concern. "What an inconvenience! They'll need to get a man in."

Just then, an angry looking man in an expensive suit came barreling out of the door behind the weasel-y secretary. Rose nudged the Doctor and pointed to the two men in the middle of the heated exchange. "That's Alan Weiss," she informed him.

"I believe his schedule has just cleared," the Doctor said as he shoved his hands in his pockets and sauntered away from her.

"It's 10 in the morning!" the man in the suit was shouting at the terrified secretary. Alan Weiss looked quite a bit different than the man in the picture Torchwood had of him at an office Christmas party. Not only were the clothes more impressive, but so was everything about his appearance now. He had cut his shaggy, blond hair into a more professional style. His glasses were no longer round and thick, but small and rectangular with gold rims that suited his face and drew attention to his piercing blue eyes. He also held himself now with the comfortable, authoritative posture of a man in charge. "I'm not sending everyone home just because the systems went down! Get someone to fix it!"

"But, sir, you're a genius. You've built this system. Can't you fix it?" the secretary asked Alan Weiss, bracing himself for another berating.

"Yes, of course I can. But to fix it quickly I need about fifteen other geniuses. Now get on it!"

"Are my ears burning?" the Doctor asked, stepping forward with all his usual swagger. "Fifteen geniuses? That's quite a lot. Lucky for you, I'm here. And I'm at least worth ten."

"And you are?" Alan Weiss asked him impatiently.

"I'm the Doctor. This is Rose," the Doctor said, jerking a thumb in Rose's direction. "I think I can help with your little technical problem here, but I'm gonna need to see your computer."

"What are you waiting for then?" Alan opened his office door and ushered the Doctor and Rose inside.

The Doctor took off the new black trench coat that Rose had given him (it didn't compare to his old brown one, but it did the job) and tossed it at Alan who scowled at him and threw the coat on a white leather couch. Once he made a big show of hmm-ing and ohh-ing at the computer, the Doctor crawled under Alan's desk and got to work. "Oh, this is brilliant!" Rose and Alan heard the Doctor say. "You came up with these network systems all on your own?"

"Indeed," Alan said. "Reconfigured all the computers to run off of this just two weeks ago. But I doubt that you'll be able to fix it. It's very complex…"

But Alan was silenced by the whirl and hum of his computer switching back on. The Doctor popped his head up and grinned at him. "Alright, I lied; I probably am worth fifteen geniuses. Well, twelve at the very least."

"How did you do that?" Alan asked him, coming over to examine the computer.

"I'm very clever," the Doctor told him, sitting at Alan's desk and proceeding to type away. "Clever enough to know that with a mind like yours, you could be working for the government or military. But instead you're designing websites? Why is that?"

"It's what I like to do," Alan said, still puzzled at the Doctor's quick work of fixing the systems. "I've worked here for nine years. They gave me a promotion recently and I just took it. Haven't really thought about working anywhere else."

"Ah," was all the Doctor said.

Rose wanted to ask what finally got him a promotion after nine years, but was interrupted by a woman coming through the door. "Everything coming along alright, Alan?" the woman asked. After Rose had spun to face the newcomer, she was taken aback. The woman was gorgeous. She was a proper supermodel, in fact; long and lean with elfin features and shiny hair the color of honey.

"It's fine, love," Alan told the woman. "Working it out now." Then he looked up from whatever the Doctor was doing and smiled at her. "Why don't you use the down time to work on the seating chart for the wedding? Just don't sit my college buddies next to your mum."

The woman laughed and left the room. "Who was that?" Rose asked.

"Oh, that's my fiancé, Chloe."

"Fiance." Rose noted, shooting the Doctor a meaningful look. He returned an almost imperceptible nod in her direction.

"Congratulations," the Doctor said, distractedly. "Seating chart, huh? Don't let her near any vases."

Rose furrowed her brow in confusion at him. "I'm gonna go get a drink. Anyone want anything?" But both the Doctor and Alan were too busy with the computer to pay her any mind.

As luck would have it, Rose found Chloe easily enough in the break room. She was stirring her tea with a dreamy look on her face as she flipped through bridal magazines. Rose recognized the look easily enough. It was the look of a woman completely and madly in love. _Oh God, is that what I look like to other people? _Rose wondered.

"Find a dress yet?" Rose asked Chloe, looking for something to break the ice.

"Not yet," Chloe told her. "Haven't had much time, actually. We only just got engaged. But Alan doesn't want to wait long. He's so impatient like that."

"How long have you been datin'?" Rose pulled up a chair and poured herself a cup of tea.

"Couple of weeks."

"Blimey," Rose said before she caught herself. "Sorry… it's just… that's quick."

Chloe just laughed. "Oh, I know. It's mad. But I love him. Strange how that works."

"What's strange?" Rose asked. She had been hearing that word thrown around a lot lately.

"I've worked here for five years with him and never even noticed him before. Then, all of a sudden, he started talking to me. He's just so charming. I couldn't believe I'd never properly met him. He came up with this new network that we all use and got that promotion – he's so brilliant. How could I resist him?"

"Was this after his disappearance?"

"Uh, yeah. Yeah, I think it was." Chloe smiled. "His dad was sick and Alan had to leave for a while. But he's better now."

"Is his dad coming to the wedding?" Rose asked. She knew from the Torchwood file that Alan's dad had died when Alan was little.

"No," Chloe said sadly. "He's still not feeling well enough to travel, poor thing. Hopefully he'll be better by Christmas so we can visit."

Rose just nodded.

The Doctor poked his head around the corner. "Ready to shift?" he asked. When they were in the lift, he smiled at her. "Look at that. A successful investigation all done without getting caught kissing. Find out anything?"

"Other than Alan Weiss's dad comin' back from the dead…" Rose mused. The Doctor raised an eyebrow at her. "Chloe did tell me that they only started dating a couple weeks ago."

"Right after Alan's disappearance," the Doctor noted.

"Yeah, and she said that she didn't even notice him until then," Rose said. "How about you? Got any gossip?"

"We'll find that out when we're back at the TARDIS," he told her, flipping his sonic screwdriver around. "I downloaded the contents of Alan's computer on here. Hopefully I'll find more than just chirping."


	13. Chapter 13

Regrettably, like most of the Doctor's plans, making it back to the TARDIS was just not to be. He was starting to believe that destructive cosmic forces beyond his control were purposefully intervening at every turn to make this all much more difficult than it had to be. This should have been simple. Uncover mystery, defeat evil villain, rescue Jake… At this point he'd just take two of the three, or not necessarily in that order. Usually he was all up for a good adventure and this one had all the right components; but he had better things to be doing right now and the most important component of that plan was currently burning a hole in his jacket pocket. If he believed in such things (and he definitely did not), he would have almost guessed that the universe was sending him a message.

But after one phone call from Pete, the Doctor and Rose were on their way back to Torchwood. There had been another breach in their system and it showed again that Jake had logged on to their databases.

The Doctor tried not to grumble too much as he and Rose marched to where they were told to report, Torchwood's technical department. Rose often, lovingly, referred to this department of Torchwood as "The Playhouse" since this was where all sorts of alien tech was studied. She had actually came up with the nickname when the Doctor arrived in this universe and had given everyone working there a newfound enthusiasm for dismantling and repairing.

They were greeted by Cormac Gaines, Torchwood's brightest tinkerer (this was not his actual title, but the Doctor couldn't be bothered to remember the specifics and, besides, he liked that term better) and a very good friend of Jake's. The Doctor liked Cormac with his penchant for computers and math, fidgety fingers, and gentle disposition. Jake had once told the Doctor that Cormac had always coveted a move to field operative, but kept mucking up his chances by being frightened when tested. And, as much as the Doctor respected the young man and his brilliance, he had to agree that Cormac just didn't possess the right characteristics and qualities that would make someone succeed out in the field. Besides, with a mind and a curiosity like his, he was right where he was needed. As far as the Doctor was concerned, there was absolutely no shame in choosing to wield intellect and a keyboard rather than a gun (even if they were stun-guns).

Cormac's dark eyes positively lit up as the Doctor and Rose entered the department door. He offered to take Rose's coat and smiled at her as if it was Christmas.

"What's got you all excited?" Rose asked him.

"I'm just glad you're here," Cormac explained. "I'm worried sick about Jake and I thought that you had left already. But now that I know that you're working on finding him, I can rest easy."

"Yep, we're all over it," the Doctor told Cormac as he inspected some readings on his sonic screwdriver.

"So when are you taking off?" Cormac asked Rose. "Heard you were gonna be gone for good… traveling?"

"Yeah," she said. "We were gonna leave… but then Jake went missin'. I dunno when we'll go now but we're not leavin' until we find him."

"Speaking of which," the Doctor interrupted, "why don't you show me the computer log?"

"We're waiting on Mr. Tyler," Cormac told him. "He wanted to see it all too. He shouldn't be but a couple more minutes."

The Doctor sighed and went back to his sonic screwdriver. Patience was not his best attribute.

"You're lookin' well, though," Rose commented to Cormac. "Is that a new suit?"

"Oh," he said. "Yeah, I lost a bit of weight and had to get some new ones. I started going to the workout center here…" They went on like this for a while. The Doctor tuned out for some time, hoping that Rose and Cormac didn't notice his disinterest.

"Mind if I borrow a computer?" the Doctor asked, again interrupting their idle conversation. He rationed that he might as well do something useful with his time. And, besides, Rose was always better at polite interactions than he was anyway.

"Uh, yeah… take your pick," Cormac said, gesturing around to the otherwise empty department.

The Doctor did just that, after making a few deft adjustments on the settings of his sonic screwdriver, of course. This dating website seemed to link it all together and if he could just find out if Alan Weiss had used it also, then perhaps they could…. "Ah," he said, pulling out his specs and pointing to the screen, getting Rose and Cormac's attention.

"What is it?" Rose asked, coming to stand next to him.

"Looks like Alan Weiss didn't just use that website," the Doctor told her. "Look here under his client files…" The Doctor raised his eyebrow and held his tongue to the roof of his mouth as he read the names listed. "He designed it."

"Oh." Rose leaned in closer. "But… he seemed human enough, yeah?"

"I don't think he's the one causing it," the Doctor said. "But he's involved somehow."

"I'll have some operatives keep tabs on him," Pete Tyler's voice made the trio look up from the computer. "In the meantime, we've got to figure out who that woman on the website is." Richard was trailing after Pete, writing everything down in that little notebook he carried.

"Or what she is," Rose muttered, toying with her hoop earring as she stared at the computer screen in thought.

"I have an idea," Cormac piped up. "It's just a thought… but it might work."

"Well, out with it," Pete said, clearly with impatience. The Doctor thought he might be getting as antsy as the Doctor was to have this case solved and Jake back where he belonged.

"You need to lure her out, right? But the only time she ever gets close to anyone is when they use the website…" Cormac trailed off and shrugged. "You need bait."

"That's a brilliant idea, Cormac," Richard said, lowering his notebook and narrowing his gaze at the young man. "Let's just stick an apple in someone's mouth and get them kidnapped as well."

"No, no. Cormac might be right about this," the Doctor said, intervening. "Get someone to set up an account, talk to her, get her to reveal herself."

"Undercover," said Pete, nodding. "It's a nice idea… but I can't. We've only trusted the three of you with all the information about Jake for a reason. If more Torchwood people knew that Jake had went against protocol…" he sighed. "When we find him, I don't want them questioning my authority because of what Jake did and I don't want them thinking that Jake has special privileges. They might expect me to can him and if I don't then others could think that I'm showing favoritism. The only operatives that know about this think that Jake was on assignment when this happened; discretion is very important right now."

"So there's no one that you'd trust to go undercover?" Cormac asked, looking hopeful.

"We'd need a man who fits the profile," Richard suggested. "Someone unmarried and between the ages of twenty-five and forty-five."

The Doctor knew this was a bad idea before he even opened his mouth; however, sometimes he just couldn't help himself. And he wasn't about to let anyone else have all the fun. He did almost waver for a split second when his head snapped up and he saw the look Rose was giving him. She knew; of course she did. And right now she was sending him a warning with those angry (but still lovely) brown eyes.

_Don't you even think about it._

Unfortunately, once he had an idea in his head… "What about someone who just appears to be between the ages of twenty-five and forty-five?" The Doctor asked, giving Pete a sly, knowing smile.


End file.
